A Wound That Never Heals

The recently-released anthology, Male Pattern Violence (CultureCult Press, 2026), contains my story, “The Gyrification of Violence.” Edited by the press’s founder, Jay Chakravarti, the story is a reprint-inclusion originally appearing in Vastarien: A Literary Journal (lamentably on indefinite hiatus, but hopefully in some dark hibernation).

“The Third of May 1808,” Francisco Goya (1814)

Male Pattern Violence houses thirty-five stories from an eclectic selection of contributors. “From the housing projects of France to the fishing villages of Bangladesh, from Victorian England to the digital wastelands of social media moderation, Male Pattern Violence traces the architecture of male violence: not as aberrations, but as a pattern, perpetuated consciously or otherwise, since time immemorial.” 

“The Third of May 1808,” Francisco Goya (1814)

As for my own offering, the editor’s intro follows: “A single punch in a middle-school hallway, then decades of aftershocks. [Clint] Smith dissects male violence not as spectacle, but as a wound that never heals.”

“Listen” Up: “Watching the Crawl” Adapted to Audible Episode of The NoSleep Podcast

Literarily speaking, this is a professional first: my story, “Watching the Crawl,” has been adapted into a fully-produced episode on Season 24 of The NoSleep Podcast.

Among other mediums, I cut my creative teeth on classic, old-time radio series (The Black Museum…Lights Out…Inner Sanctum), and for intermittent periods as an adult, those shows continue to offer a throwback solace during more solitudinal stretches. To say this is a personal achievement is a weighty understatement.

The NoSleep episodes are a cinematic experience in auditory form, replete with performances featuring a cast of voice actors, sound effects, and atmospheric soundtracks. The cast for “Watching the Crawl” (produced by Jesse Cornett) includes Peter Lewis (as the narrator); Mary Murphy (as Gwen); Ella Boone (as Ashley); and Graham Rowat (as the Officer). Kyle Akers (standing in for David Cummings) is the host for this installment, and his introduction of “Watching the Crawl” begins at the 1h 23min mark.

Settle in somewhere quiet (or perhaps press play on some seldom-traveled backroad), and give “Watching the Crawl” a listen (1h 07min) on Season 24, Episode 12 of The NoSleep Podcast.